Royal Hell
by Ryu-Hogosha
Summary: Leon and Claire are investigating rumors of an Umbella lab hidden near London. Along the way, they meet a young man with a score of his own to settle with the corporation... (please R&R)
1. Chapter 1

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Resident Evil: Royal Hell

By Ryu Hogosha

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Chapter 1

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"Run, Claire!" Leon shouted. He could feel the air on his back as the Tyrant relentlessly slashed at him with its claw, missing only by mere centimeters. Claire turned around slightly and aimed her shotgun. She pulled the trigger, sending 10-gauge buckshot over Leon's left shoulder into the creature's chest. The Tyrant didn't even flinch.

Leon tucked the barrel of his Desert Eagle under his arm and fired three shots into the Tyrant, causing it to stagger. Seeing this, he fired again, this time at its head. The Tyrant let out a growl as Leon's bullet struck home. The young man fired until his clip ran empty, finally dropping the monster.

Claire Redfield, along with rookie officer Leon S. Kennedy from the Raccoon City Police Department, had received reports of a bizarre creature roaming through the English countryside, attacking tourists and natives alike, apparently gouging them in the stomach with a razor-sharp weapon. The victims were later seen rising up and walking like nothing had happened, with one difference: they had become mindless zombies, with dead and rotting skin hanging from their bones, their eyes searching…searching for the warm flesh they knew as prey.

Leon stood over the Tyrant, loading a fresh clip into his gun. Claire joined him by his side. "I think that about does it," the young woman said, her words echoing down the corridor of the now-silent laboratory. It had been four months since the day that the quiet, mid-western town called Raccoon City was literally blown off the map to cover up the mistakes and secrets of the pharmaceutical corporation known as Umbrella.

The Tyrant uttered a low growl, and Claire pressed the barrel of her shotgun to the monster's face and pulled the trigger, causing the creature to sputter blood and sending bits if it onto her clothing. Her face wrinkled in disgust.

"Now all we have to do is seal this place off for good," Leon said finally. "Where do we go, though?"

Before Claire could answer, emergency lights flashed and a calm voice began talking through the loudspeaker, "Warning. The self-destruct system has been activated. All researchers and guards should report to the nearest evacuation facility. Repeat..."

"I guess that settles _that_ little problem," Claire said loudly over the speakers. "Let's move!"

Leon looked at her and nodded. "Right!"

The two of them rounded the corner at the end of the hall and jumped into the lift. Leon quickly pushed the button for the top floor of the subterranean complex. The door started to close, when they heard a voice coming from the other end of the corridor. "Hey! Wait up!!"

A young man was running full-speed down the hall. Leon braced the door open and the stranger bounded inside. Leon let go of the door and the elevator moved upward.

"Thanks," the young man said in a moderately heavy Australian accent. "Name's Seiyn. Jenner Seiyn."

"Claire Redfield," the young woman responded. "This is Leon Kennedy."

Jenner gave a nod to the both of them. He was tall, about 6-feet, 2-inches, and he looked about Leon's age. His short, blood-red hair was damp with sweat. He wore a set of blue camouflage pants and a white T-shirt, along with a blue camo vest. His jet-black boots housed twin combat knives, both on the outside of his legs. In short, he looked very much like a veteran survivor.

The young man gave them a look-over. "So you're the blokes that are here to take down Umbrella?"

Leon nodded back. "That's the plan, but...what are you doing down here?" he asked. Jenner leaned against the wall of the elevator and said, "The same thing you are. My grandfather worked for Umbrella way back, when they were working with medicine, not building bio-weapons. He was one of the leading developers for the new drugs. One of the higher-ups decided to try something 'different'. They asked my grandfather to help out. He agreed, thinking they were planning on creating a new type of medicine. They shipped him off to America, to this mansion outside of an isolated city. I forgot the name, though. Anyway, I never heard from him again."

"The Spencer Estate," Leon said. "It was just outside of Raccoon City before S.T.A.R.S. teams went in to investigate a series of unexplained murder cases that were centered around that area."

"Yeah," Jenner replied, crossing his arms. "I remember reading about that somewhere. It was said that the S.T.A.R.S. were lying, and that the mansion was destroyed due to 'careless behavior' on the S.T.A.R.S.' part."

Claire looked at Jenner, his angered expression reminded her of Steve's when he told her of his past. She thought back to when she and another young man, Steve Burnside, were imprisoned on Rockfort Island. They had been brought there as captives of Umbrella Inc. Steve's father worked for Umbrella and tried to steal information and sell it to the highest bidder. He was caught, and Steve's mother was executed. Steve and his father were then taken to the island.

_Oh, Steve…_

A jolt brought Claire back to the present. The elevator had stopped. Leon stepped out, followed by Jenner. Claire was last. "So it was _you_ who threw the failsafe switch," Claire said as they bolted out the main door and into an open field. They didn't stop until they were two hundred yards from the facility, where they promptly collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. "Yeah," Jenner answered. "How did you manage to make it through the place?" Leon asked. "There had to be _hundreds_ of--"

His sentence was cut short by the Triggering System's detonation. The resulting explosion shook the very ground they stood on, and sent a large column of flame spouting into the sky. When the shaking finally ceased, Jenner reached into his vest and produced a semi-automatic handgun. ".45 SOCOM," he said. "I snatched it out of a guard's locker, as well as quite a bit of ammo, but that was it."

"Could I see it for a sec?" Leon asked. Jenner handed over the weapon. Leon looked at it for a moment before handing it back. "Come on. There's still a lot of ground to cover," he continued.

Jenner tucked the SOCOM back into his shoulder holster. "There's a small Umbrella facility just south of London, about thirty miles west from here. My grandpa worked there." he said. "Then let's go!" Claire replied.

************

They had opted to walk the rest of the way after taking a cab as far as they could. Their trek took them to a small woodland area, shrouded in thick fog. "I've got a bad feeling about this, mates..." Jenner said softly.

"I agree," Leon responded, slowly looking about. They pressed onward, working their way through the dense fog and foliage. Suddenly, Jenner stopped them. He raised a hand, as though telling them to wait. "What's that?" he asked. Claire looked around, slowly drawing her M93R. "What is it?" she replied.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what? I don't hear anything," Leon spoke up.

"Exactly," Jenner said. "There are no songbirds, no bees, not even _squirrels_. It's the middle of bloody _spring,_ for crying out loud!"

Leon finally became aware of the eerie stillness about him. "You're right," he replied softly, releasing the safety of his Desert Eagle. Jenner did the same with his SOCOM. "I'll take point." Leon said. "We'll triangulate."

The words had barely passed his lips when a growl emanated from somewhere in the forest. It was joined by a second, then a third. Soon, leaves and twigs began crunching rapidly, as if something were moving fairly quickly. From out of the fog, three creatures leaped at them. Without thinking, Jenner yanked out one of his knives and hurled it straight into the head of one of the beasts. Leon fired his gun at another, while Claire's pistol spat three-round bursts into the third. The creatures didn't slow, with the exception of the one that Leon had shot. A large chunk was missing from its head. Jenner drew his SOCOM and fired twice, killing the remaining monsters. He slowly walked toward the one that his knife had struck, keeping his gun trained on the nearest of the other two. Retrieving his knife, he knelt and took this chance to examine the beasts carefully. They appeared to be large dogs, with the exception that in some places, their skin was rotted away and only muscle showed. "Damn..." Jenner whispered.

"It's just like before..." Leon said, holstering his weapon. The three continued on their way through the forest. They encountered a few more dogs, but other than that, they had no problems.

Claire dropped to her knees quickly, drawing her gun. The two men followed suit. Claire pointed ahead of them into the fog. They could barely make out the shape of a building, and standing outside, were two humanoid figures. Leon peered through the thick fog at the guards. His face grew pale. "Oh, no....."

The guards wore ragged clothing. Their lifeless eyes stared blankly into the distance. Their jaws-- or what was left of them-- opened and closed silently. Fresh blood covered their faces.

They had become zombies.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

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Jenner removed a small, cylindrical object from his vest pocket and screwed it to the barrel of his gun. He took careful aim at the head of one of the zombies. A tiny red beam of light shone through the fog from the SOCOMs laser-sight. Jenner squeezed the trigger once, and a barely audible _thewp_ sound was heard. The zombie guard went down.

Jenner repeated the process, and dropped the second guard. He shut off the sight, and motioned for Leon and Claire to follow. They kept low, staying out of sight. Leon tried the door handle. It was locked. Claire spotted a small vertical slot just to the right of the door. "Maybe one of the guards has a card?" she said.

She went back and searched the pockets of the dead guards. Eventually, she came up with a small plastic rectangle. The Biohazard symbol was engraved on it. "Try this," the young woman said, handing the card to Jenner.

The young man inserted the card into the slot. The door clicked as it unlocked, and Jenner turned the knob. The door swung open noiselessly, revealing a small staircase. Leon took the lead, while Jenner covered their rear. The three of them crept down the stairs, unaware that someone...somewhere...was watching them.

***********

"Damn that girl," a voice said, it's face glaring at the security monitor. "She is becoming as much of a nuisance as her brother." The speaker spat the last word out as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. He continued to watch, observing their every move. He looked over to the cages beside him. The beasts inside growled hungrily. He pressed a few buttons on a small remote control attached to his belt. The cage doors slowly started to open. "Here's a small welcoming gift for you, Claire Redfield...."

************

Leon stopped, straining his ears to try and hear the shuffling noise he _thought_ he had heard. Jenner crouched low, drawing the knife from his left boot. Claire pressed herself against the wall, hefting a shotgun she had found in the guardroom they had just exited. It was a Benelli seven-shooter with a pistol-grip. It had been sitting in a locker, next to a box of shells. She couldn't have been luckier, she thought.

Suddenly, they heard a low moan, followed by another, then a third, and a fourth. A multitude of moans then joined in. The rookie cop drew his Desert Eagle. Claire aimed her shotgun at the corner. Jenner reached down and sheathed his knife, readying his SOCOM instead. Claire edged closer to the corner and stuck her head around, then pulled it back quickly. "We've got trouble," she said softly.

"How many?" Leon asked.

"I'd say about..." Claire peeked around the corner again. "Ten."

"Let me borrow your shotgun," Jenner said, and Claire handed him the weapon. The young man crept over to the corner. He pressed himself against it, then quickly drew one of his knives and tossed it down the corridor. The weapon struck the metal walls, creating a dull _clang_ that echoed down the hall. A chorus of moans answered the sound, then the shuffling drew nearer. Leon crouched and stuck his head around the corner. "Ready..._now!_" he said.

Jenner leaped around the corner and fired five shots. The pellet-spread from the blasts riddled the zombies with holes, blowing a few in half. He handed the shotgun back to Claire, then drew his SOCOM. He swept the laser-sight back-and-forth over the heads of the zombie guards, the crimson beam shining like a beacon through the dimly-lit corridor. Jenner saw one of the guards twitch, and fired one shot to its head. Then he dispatched the others in the same fashion.

_Thewp! Thewp! Thewp! Thewpthewpthewpthewpthewp---_

BLAM!!

Jenner turned to see Leon, his gun aimed at the now-headless torso of the last guard, which was even then trying to crawl toward Jenner, desperate for a last meal. "Thanks, mate," Jenner said, holstering his SOCOM. He picked up his knife, and turned to the others. "Let's go. There's still a lot of work to do."

Just then, Claire heard a soft whirring noise above her. She looked up and saw a small camera mounted on a tank-shaped robot about the size of her head. The camera focused on her, and emitted a red light from above the lens. "What the--" she started to say.

She was cut off by a loud screeching sound. She turned around and saw a short, but muscular creature. It walked on two legs, and looked like a sort of gorilla, except it had scales instead of fur. On the end of its hands, were long, razor-sharp claws. Its fangs dripped with saliva. It lumbered toward her in a slow, deliberate gait.

Leon turned and drew his gun, aiming the weapon right at the monster's chest. He fired, causing the creature to stagger. It regained its posture, and leaped into the air, raising it's claws for a slice at his neck. 

Jenner turned and fired, his bullets ripping through the flesh of the monster. It let out a loud screech of pain, then dropped to the floor. A dark liquid pooled out around it. Jenner quickly loaded a fresh clip into his SOCOM, as one thought escaped his lips.

"What the _hell?"_

***************

The man in black pulled down his shades to look at the monitor. "That boy," he said to no one in particular, "is going to be a problem. I wonder if he'll enjoy my little 'surprise'?" He chuckled to himself as he flipped a few switches on the control panel.

***************

The three of them continued on their way down the dark corridor, ever alert for the "watchers," as Jenner had called them. Soon, they came to a T-junction. "Which way do we go?" asked Claire.

Leon shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Let's split up," Jenner suggested. "I'll go right. You two go left."

"Alright," Claire said. She readied her shotgun and began heading down the left passageway. "Good luck, Jenner," Leon said to the younger man. "You too, mate," Jenner replied. They tapped barrels, then went their separate ways.

*************

Jenner traveled down a narrow passageway that led him to a dead end. He turned around, and the floor disappeared from beneath him. His arms were flailing, desperately trying to grab onto something, but his fingers found only smooth steel. He slid down a long chute, and landed hard onto a dirt floor. He sat up, feeling the back of his head. Pleased that he didn't have a concussion, he looked around him.

The room he was in had only two exits, a door on the far side of the room, and the chute he fell down. He checked himself for further injury, then slowly got up and dusted himself off.

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At least there are no zombies in here...

He drew his knives, just in case. He slowly headed toward the door on the other side of the room. He came to a deep crevasse running horizontally across the room in front of him, cutting him off from the door. It was a good seven-foot gap. He leaned forward slightly, trying to get a better look. All he saw was blackness-- the ravine going deeper than he could see. Suddenly, he found himself reeling backward, trying to avoid the razor-sharp claw that lanced out at him, narrowly missing his throat. He landed on his rear-end, scrambling backward as the claw embedded itself in the dirt floor, pulling something up from the depths of the pit.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

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Leon and Claire had blasted two more zombies on their way through the poorly-kept office. The rookie cop shuffled through desk drawers. He turned up with a small disc, about the diameter of a baseball. He turned to a small computer terminal on the desk, and inserted the disc. Claire looked over his shoulder. Leon accessed all the files he found, trying to come up with _something---_

---and he found it: a map of the facility. "Bingo," he said softly. "Now we won't get lost." Claire's ears perked up, listening to a soft shuffling noise. She turned, bringing up her M93R, unlocking the safety. Three shapes lumbered past the office windows, heading for the door. Leon ejected the disc, and placed it in a case for safekeeping, then tucked it into his pocket. He took Claire's shotgun and checked the ammo. He cocked it and took aim, then fired, sending buckshot through the blinds and the glass of the window. The zombies staggered, and Claire finished them off, placing a bullet into their heads.

When they were sure the zombies wouldn't get up again, Claire said softly, "I hope Jenner is doing alright...."

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The monstrosity made its appearance, pulling itself up over the edge of the crevasse. It had the body of a tall, muscular man, but it was sexless. Its eyes glowed an eerie green color, and in the place of hands, it had sickle-like blades. Its mouth was stretched into a permanent grin, its lips gone. It's face looked much like that of the Grim Reaper.

Jenner backed away, drawing his SOCOM. _When will Umbrella learn...? _He trained the laser on one of the beast's eyes and fired. Faster than he could blink, Jenner saw the monster pivot and lean sideways, avoiding the bullet. It then straightened up and lunged, slicing at him with its sickle-blades.

Jenner, having occasionally prided himself as being an astounding athlete, back-flipped out of the path of the deadly blades. He did backward, one-handed cartwheels as he unloaded round after round at the monster, keeping his aim steady. The bullets streaked through the air that had once been occupied by the Reaper, its lightning-quick movements allowing it to dodge Jenner's attacks. Holstering his weapon, the young man drew his knives and ran at the creature, jumping into the air and landing a kick to the barrel-chested creature, ready to push off into an airborne roundhouse-kick.

Seemingly unfazed, the Reaper swung its arm and swatted him away with the flat side of its left sickle. Jenner went sprawling across the dirt floor, dizziness slowly beginning to overtake him. He shook it off, then got up and assumed a fighting stance, knowing he was crazy to do so, but he had run out of options. Crouching down, he held his knives upside-down, and crossed his arms in front of him. He broke into a run, and sped toward the monster. He leaped into the air, and sent two fierce slashes across the Reaper's chest, leaving a bloody gouge in the shape of an X.

The Reaper howled a blood-curdling, inhuman shriek. Jenner pivoted and sent his boot into the eternal grin of the beast with a reverse high-kick, sending it staggering backward toward the crevasse. Two more slashes rendered the Reaper immobile, as Jenner had slid between its legs and severed one of its Achilles' tendons. The creature struggled for balance, it's one good leg trying to keep it upright. Finally, the Reaper went down on its knees, using its arms for frontal support.

Jenner shook his head. "Chew onthis!" He dashed forward, jumped slightly, and placed his left foot on the Reaper's left shoulder. He then sent his right foot into the chin of the monster in a devastating somersault-kick. The Reaper fell backward, tumbling down into the abyss, screaming its unearthly scream until it finally faded. He checked the ammo in his SOCOM. He had ten shots left; half of his extended clip, plus the three spares he had in his vest pocket. He thumbed the safety and backed up to the wall beneath the chute. He broke into a run, and somersaulted over the chasm, landing perfectly on the other side. He turned around, looking back across the room. He smiled to himself, then exited the chamber.

************

Leon tapped buttons on the control panel, trying to find out where Jenner may have gone. At last, he found the tunnel where they had split. Then Claire spotted something. "Look," she said, pointing. Leon followed her gaze and saw a small square hole in the floor at the dead end. Leon tapped a few more keys, and the view on the screen changed. It showed a large room, some fifty-feet by thirty-feet, and in the center, was what looked like a deep pit that stretched the width of the room. He zoomed in with the camera, and came across shell-casings that lay scattered about on the dirt floor.

"Jenner was there, no doubt about it," Leon said finally. He switched to another camera, and the two of them saw the young man running through the halls, followed closely behind by a large group of zombie-dogs. _How did _those _things get in here...?_ Claire asked herself. She and Leon kept watching the screen, and at one point, Jenner turned and opened fire, jogging backward as the bullets ripped into the rotting flesh of the dogs. Soon, Jenner was alone; the dogs lay still in pools of their own blood. The young man ejected his empty clip, and slammed in another, then he picked up the empty, tucking it into one of his vest pockets.

"Where is he?" Claire asked. Leon checked the cam's location on another monitor. "Level B2. That's not too far from here," he said. He picked up his Desert Eagle and hurried out of the room, with Claire following not more than two steps behind.

***************

"NO!" the Man in Black yelled. He pounded his fist on a nearby console, smashing it. He felt no pain with that last action, but he brimmed over with anger, and a bit of surprise as well. "The GR-218 should have killed him without a problem! But what happened? That brat killed it with little effort!!"

At that last statement, the Man in Black calmed down a bit and smiled to himself, as if this had in fact been a blessing, instead of a disaster. "Maybe this won't be so bad, after all....." He hit a few more keys, and several "Watchers" whirred to life, scanning the room briefly before rolling up onto the walls and out the door.

When they were gone, the Man in Black pushed his sunglasses back up onto his nose. He chuckled to himself yet again. "The Hunters will keep him busy for _quite_ some time...." To that, he added, "Just long enough for me to take care of Claire and her cop-friend...."

***************

Jenner came to a large room with a clear display-case against the back wall. The room was lavishly furnished with expensive armchairs, two velvet couches, and a large fireplace with an old-fashioned door next to it. He went over to the display case and looked inside. He saw a well-maintained M-16 rifle, twin MP5-Ks, and in the center, was a gold-plated H&K VP70. At the base, he saw three switches. Each had a different picture: a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a flame, and an hourglass. Turning around, he saw a desk, topped with a few files left open, as if someone were forced to leave in a hurry. He rifled through the files, and came across a scrap of paper taped to the desk. He picked it up and read it:

_This thing all things devours_

Birds, beasts, trees, and flowers.

Gnaws iron, bites steel,

Grinds hard boulders to meal.

Slays kings, ruins towns,

And beats the greatest mountains down.

It was a riddle; and one that he found quite puzzling. He thought it had something to do with the three switches, so he went back over to the display case and examined it once more. He looked at the riddle, then at the first picture: the T-Rex. _It certainly _does_ eat pretty much anything, but..._

The riddle said "kings". Tyrannosaurus Rex literally meant "tyrant king", but Jenner didn't think that was what the poem was getting at. In addition, if the poem meant _human_ kings, the T-Rex would have been extinct for millions of years, so he ruled that out. He looked at the second one. Flames are Nature's destroyers, but they couldn't "beat down mountains" or "gnaw steel", so he went on to the third one: the hourglass. He thought about the riddle again, then the answer came to him.

_Time..._

So he flipped the switch over the hourglass, and a soft _click_ reached his ears. The glass front of the display case slid upward into the wall, and he reached in to take the machineguns. He slung them across his chest, then picked up the rifle and checked the ammo. He had a full clip.

He reached inside and took out the three large, green boxes that were stacked in the far corner of the case. He set them down on the ground and opened them. Several clips were inside. He grabbed an extra clip for the M-16 and a handful of magazines for the MP5s, which he put into one of his pockets. He put as many clips as he could into one box, as well as the VP70, then he closed it. He strapped the rifle over his right shoulder and held it tightly in his right hand, then he picked up the ammo case and headed out of the room, going through the door next to the huge fireplace.

******************

The Man in Black decided that he'd had enough. _I will take care of the three of them by myself! _he declared silently. He went over to a large storage locker and opened the door. He took out a small automatic pistol and slapped a clip into it. He brought back the bolt and grabbed an extra magazine. He pounded a few buttons on the control panel marked "LABORATORY CELLS." Satisfied, he walked quickly out of the control room. "I'll start with that _Australian_ brat...."

He moved silently down the hall, his machine-gun gripped comfortably in his hand. Within moments, he spotted a couple figures at the end of a dimly lit corridor. He guessed it to be the cop and young Ms. Redfield, whom he would take care of soon enough. He pressed himself against the wall until they had passed, then he went in the other direction. He finally came to a small side-passage, and he ducked into it. He then heard quick, light footsteps echoing down the hall at the end of the passageway, and he stuck his head out of the recess. He stole a quick glance, then stepped into view, just as a young man rounded the corner. The Man took aim, and let loose a volley of 9mm fire. Jenner never saw it coming--

--until _just_ before the Man fired. Jenner reacted quickly, kicking his legs out from beneath him and returning fire with the M-16, it's thunderous call echoing down the corridor. The Man seemed to break into a run, and he suddenly had Jenner by the throat. The young man was lifted into the air by the neck, and his attacker seemingly exerted little to no energy picking up his one-hundred-and-fifty-pound body with one hand.

Jenner struggled, but his efforts seemed futile, for the more he fought to free himself, the more the Man in Black tightened his grip. "You have caused me," the Man in Black seethed, "more trouble than you're worth...." Jenner felt darkness begin to overtake him. _No... _he pleaded silently. _It can't end like this...it _won't_ end like this...!_ With the last of his strength, Jenner brought his leg back, and sent the steel-toe of his boot into the Man's ribcage. He heard a small grunt, then he fell.


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

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Jenner hit the floor with a dull _thud._ He sat up, clutching his throat, gasping for air. He finally regained enough of his senses to see that he had caused the Man in Black enough pain to force himself free of the Man's grasp. "Who...are you?" he gasped. The Man stood up, straightened his sunglasses, and smiled. It was a calm, unnerving smile that set Jenner's heart racing. "I am Albert Wesker," the Man said. "Former S.T.A.R.S. captain, and ex-Umbrella employee."

_Umbrella...?! _Jenner gasped. Wesker chuckled softly. "You did a _marvelous _job with the Hunter, and the _Gr_218," he said, crossing his arms. "_Gr_218? You mean the Reaper?" Jenner asked. "Oh, is _that_ what you call it? I guess it could be described as such...anyway, any _normal_ person would have been killed rather quickly if they stood toe-to-toe with one of those. You surprised me greatly."

"Don't mention it," Jenner mumbled. "Ever."

Wesker aimed his machine-gun at Jenner's head. "Pity that you could not have given me more of a show..." His finger tightened on the trigger. Just then, a voice echoed down the hall. "_Freeze!"_ Wesker turned, and saw Claire and Leon standing there with their weapons trained on him. The man smiled. "You must be joking..."

"Back off!" Claire said loudly. She cocked her shotgun. Leon glanced at Jenner. "You okay, Jenner?" he asked. The young man nodded. He got up and grabbed the ammo box tightly. "Here, mates!" he said, and slid the box down the corridor to them. Leon stopped it with his foot, and opened it. He pulled out the clips that were inside and stuffed them in his pockets, along with the VP70. "Jenner, get out of here," he said. "We're right behind you." Jenner nodded, and bolted down the hall in the opposite direction.

When Jenner was out of sight, Leon fixed his gaze on Wesker. "Why are you doing this?" the rookie cop asked. Wesker grinned. "If you must know, I have been asked to come here by my employers to obtain a sample of the new TV-2501-M virus. It is twice as potent as the T-Virus, yet when administered to a human, they retain their free will and can think for themselves, instead of becoming bloodthirsty zombies...."

"Well you'd better get back to the drawing board," Claire said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Your precious virus backfired. We had to drop _quite_ a few guards on our way in here, and they were as mindless as they come."

Wesker seemed undeterred by this latest news. "Impossible," he said. "The TV-2501 has been perfected! There is no way it could initiate such symptoms!" Claire raised her aim just a bit, and said, "Believe it. Your mission flunked. Big time." Hearing this, Wesker turned down the hall and disappeared from view. Leon looked over at Claire. "Let's see if Jenner's all right," he said.

*****************

Jenner mowed down several guards with his M-16. He reloaded and headed into a large room with a single wooden bridge hanging over a large crevasse. He carefully walked onto it. It creaked in protest, but it held. He quickly but carefully made his way across. He heard a soft whirring noise above him. He looked up, and a Watcher looked right back.

__

Oh, shit…

The Watcher emitted a red light from beneath its camera lens, and a loud shriek filled the chamber. Jenner turned, and saw what he assumed was a Hunter standing in the doorway he'd just come through. It howled, and ran toward him with astonishing speed. Jenner reacted quickly. He jumped and did a split just as the Hunter reached him. It passed harmlessly beneath him, and Jenner trained his M-16 on the beast. He fired, and sent a volley of shots tearing through the Hunter's scaly flesh. It howled again, and slashed at the young man, missing his legs by mere inches, but the momentum from the attack sent the claws ripping through some of the rope that held the bridge together. Jenner performed a somersault and landed on the other side of the Hunter. He made a break for the other door just as the bridge started to fall apart, then he was falling again. He grabbed at the air, and his fingers caught hold of a plank that served as part of the bridge. The Hunter screamed, and swung a claw at Jenner in a final assault as it fell. Jenner tried to return fire with an M-16, but the Hunter's muscular arm knocked the weapon from his hand. He let it go, watching it drop into the abyss with the monster. Jenner grunted, and placed his other hand on the wooden plank. Slowly, he started to climb.

He pulled himself onto the ledge, and opened the door. As he walked slowly down the hall, something struck him hard from behind. He fell, and his world went black before he even hit the floor.

******************

Claire and Leon found themselves backed to the wall. A Reaper slashed at them viciously. Leon took aim with his Desert Eagle and fired at one of the sickle-blades. The bullet connected, and broke the blade clean off at the wrist. It howled, and Leon shot off the other blade as well. The Reaper then turned and started to run, but Claire stepped up and raised her shotgun. "Not so fast, buddy..." She fired, and the Reaper's head became disconnected from its shoulders. The monster spasmed, and sputtered to the floor. Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out his last Desert Eagle magazine. "I've got twelve live ones left," he said. "Seven in the mag, and five in my gun." He then remembered the VP70 that Jenner had given him. He pulled it out and examined it. It was plated in what looked like gold. He took one of the clips that he had pocketed and slammed it home. He chambered a bullet and felt as if renewed energy flowed through him. Turning to Claire, he said, "What about you? How many shells you got left?"

She held up a handful of shells. "That's it, besides my 9mm," she replied. "I've got one magazine left for it." Leon reached into his pocket and handed her three clips. "There. Now we've got six between us. Make 'em last." She nodded, and the two of them continued on their search for their comrade. Soon, they encountered several Hunters, which Claire quickly took care of with her shotgun. Leon was careful to shoot any Watchers they saw, which reduced their chances of being attacked by any more Hunters. They soon came to a large, iron doorway. Leon tried the handle, and found it stuck tight. He stepped backward a bit, then hurled himself, shoulder-first, at the door, throwing it open. Claire hurried through, and Leon covered their rear. They were in a large, laboratory-like chamber, filled wall-to-wall with various instruments and control panels. Claire gasped suddenly, and Leon followed her gaze to the center of the room.

There, inside a large cultivation tank, connected to several cables and EKG-sensors, was Jenner.


	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

*********************

His limp form hung suspended in the tank. Claire moved cautiously toward it, her eyes wide, and she gently pressed her hands against its sides. Leon joined her at her side. His expression was that of concern, and he wondered what they could do to free their friend. He looked around, and saw a small console next to the tank. Jenner's weapons lay nearby, but in his current state, they weren't going to matter too much to him. He walked over to the console, and examined it carefully. He tapped a few keys, and the fluid inside the tank slowly began to drain. Soon, Jenner lay slumped against the side of the tank, and the glass rose upward. Jenner tumbled out and landed in Claire's arms. She looked at him and ripped away the cables, then held two fingers to his neck, checking for a pulse.

"He's still alive," she said, a hint of relief in her voice. Leon knelt next to them and picked Jenner up, wrapping one arm about his shoulder. Claire did the same. Together, they managed to get their friend over to a small bench-like chair on one side of the room and laid him down. Leon began to nudge Jenner to the point that the latter began to stir. Jenner's eyes slowly opened, but when they did, he was something different from what he had been before. His eyes were cat-like; the pupils were yellow and slitted, and the irises were blood red. He opened his mouth, and slowly spoke.

"Where...am I...?"

Claire began to respond, when they heard a door open and close. She turned, and there stood Wesker, his gun trained on all of them. "'Welcome to my lair' said the Spider to the Fly...." he said, a wicked grin on his face. He looked at Jenner. "Your friend has caused me quite a bit of trouble," he added. Leon glared at the former S.T.A.R.S. Captain. "What have you done to him?!" he growled. Wesker fixed his gaze on Claire, ignoring the question completely. "Ms. Redfield, your brother has made me _very_ upset during these past few months. I wonder what would happen should you come across an unfortunate..._ accident..._" His lips curled into a smile. "Answer me, damn it!" Leon half-shouted.

Wesker finally looked at Leon, an annoyed expression adorning the older man's face. "If you _must_ know," Wesker said calmly, "I have injected him with the TV-2501 virus. It seems that there were a few miscalculations in the last test subject, but they have since been reprogrammed into the virus' cell structure. He is now faster, stronger, and...." He held up a small device that looked like a collar. "He will soon belong to me."

"You _bastard!_" Claire shouted. She raised her shotgun, and in the same instant, Wesker raised his own weapon. Time seemed to stand still, and for a few tense moments, neither person moved. "Go ahead," Wesker said smiling. "Shoot."

Claire didn't respond. Instead, she simply lowered her shotgun and sighed in defeat. She couldn't risk one of Wesker's shots hitting Jenner. She let her gun drop to the steel floor with a clatter.

Jenner lay on the table, his eyes closed, his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. He could hear bits of the conversation that was taking place, but could not piece it together. His heart nearly stopped in disbelief at what Wesker had said. _I've...been infected..? _His eyes opened again, and he began to get his bearings. He ran his mind through the layout of the room as best he could. His tank-prison was in the center, and various instrument panels were scattered about. Next to the tank's main control terminal were--

--_My weapons...Well, I'd rather die than become that nut-job's lackey. I might as well try to do something worthwhile. _He suddenly bolted upright and dashed across the room in a blur of motion. Wesker saw this movement and fired his machine-gun at Jenner, but the younger man dove and rolled, grabbing one of his MP5s as he went. He ended up in a crouch behind the tank console. He turned and fired his weapon at Wesker, who in turn sought cover. Leon and Claire were dumbfounded. _What is going _on..._?_ they asked themselves. One minute Jenner was lying almost comatose on the table; the next minute, he was across the room in the blink of an eye. Leon took Claire's arm and dragged her behind an instrument panel. He drew his VP70 and fired at Wesker, who ducked even further behind the cover of an overturned table. Jenner jumped up, grabbed his weapons, and rushed over to Claire and Leon, the bullets from Wesker's gun nearly hitting him. "What the _hell_ happened to you?" Leon asked.

"Can't say for sure, mate," Jenner admitted. "I think it may be a side-effect of the virus, if what that bloke said was true." He stood up and fired two shots with his SOCOM at the table that shielded Wesker, and was rewarded with a grunt of pain. "Let's go!" he yelled. He made a break for the door, Leon and Claire followed closely behind. Jenner went through the door last. Bullets ricocheted off the wall right next to his head. He returned fire, and he felt a sharp stab of pain in his side. He clutched the afflicted area, and a warm fluid greeted his hand. He looked, and blood stained his fingers. His vision suddenly became slightly hazy, so he shrank back through the doorway and closed it. He stumbled, and Leon caught him by the arm and draped it over his shoulder. "Come on," the officer said.

They managed to get to an elevator that led up to the ground level. Leon hit the button that would take them up, and they heard the blood-curdling shriek of Hunters echoing down the corridor. Jenner shook free from Leon and drew his MP5s. "No!" Claire shouted. "Jenner, come on!!" The young man turned around to look at them. "It was a blast," he said. "Really." He limped back down the corridor and raised his MP5s. "Jenner! " Claire shouted again. Leon put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go!" he said, half-pulling her into the elevator. The doors closed, and the two of them heard the steady rhythm of automatic fire coupled with the screams of dying Hunters. Then the elevator started to rise.

********************

Jenner's hands bucked as the MP5s sang their deadly duet. The Hunters fell one after another. Jenner soon heard the _click-click_ of empty magazines, so he ejected them and quickly slammed in his last ones. He continued firing until every last Hunter was lying in a pool of blood. He then hurried down the hall as fast as he could, despite his injuries, trying to find the master control room. He came to a small side-passage and went down it without thinking. He came to a large, steel door with a keycard slot next to it. He held the barrel of one of his MP5s against the slot and squeezed the trigger. There was a soft hum, and the door slid open. He entered, and smiled. He set his guns down and began tapping away at keys. Soon a simple word came up in the screen, followed by two others: 

**_EXECUTE? YES/NO_**

He typed "yes," and activated the failsafe. Soon, red lights bagan flashing, and a calm, feminine voice began talking. "The Triggering System has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. Please evacuate immediately. Repeat..."

Jenner grabbed his guns and headed back toward the elevator. An unearthly howl filled his ears. There, in the front of the elevator doors, stood not one, but _two_ Reapers. They looked at him hungrily and slowly began to advance on him. Thoughts bagan racing through his head.

_This is _not_ good...there's no way in _Hell_ I'll be able to get past them like this…_

Suddenly, the same voice began talking over the loudspeakers. "There are approximately two minutes until detonation. All personnel should evacuate immediately. Be advised: all doors and elevators have been unlocked to aid in the evacuation. Repeat..."

_It's now or never!_ he said to himself. He aimed his MP5s and opened fire, spraying the Reapers with a hail of bullets. The twin monsters screamed, and Jenner aimed for their heads. He squeezed the triggers, and heard two clicks.

He was out of ammo, and the Reapers seemed _extremely _agitated by the fact that their dinner had fought back.


	6. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

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Jenner threw the useless MP5s to the floor and drew his SOCOM. He quickly fired. It was a blind shot, he knew, but the grunt of one Reaper was enough for him to know that he had hit one. He carefully took aim and unloaded his SOCOM into the monsters, dropping one, and crippling the other. He limped past the Reapers and into the elevator. "Roast in Hell, you buggers," he seethed, looking over his shoulder.

****************

Claire and Leon began to worry. "What if he didn't make it?" she asked. The officer looked tense. "He'll make it," he replied. "He's a good guy, and I'm sure he'll be fine."

"But he's been shot!" Claire said loudly. Just then, a low rumble shook the forest. Then they knew: Jenner had triggered the fail-safe mechanism, and it was starting to blow. Leon grabbed Claire's arm. "Come on!" he shouted over the rumbling. "We've gotta go!!" He dragged her along as they ran as far away as they could. Within moments, the facility erupted in a column of dirt, concrete, and steel. "Jenner!" Claire screamed. She fell to her knees and sobbed. "How many...?" she said, tears streaming down her face. "How many more lives will be sacrificed to keep Umbrella's secrets hidden?"

Leon knelt next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent as no words could be found. He bowed his head for a moment, silently cursing Umbrella and all they had done. Claire wept a few moments longer, then dried her eyes and stood up. "Watch out, Umbrella!" she shouted into the trees. "Your time is up!"

She meant it, too. After all the pain that the corporation had caused to so many people, they would pay...dearly.

THE END

************

(Well, I hope you enjoyed the fic. I know the ending is kinda sad, but guess what? There's a sequel! I plan to get it posted as soon as possible. It's called "Beyond Darkness." So, until then, later!)


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